Exmoor’s Ancient Treasures

The Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt, launched this year has with the public’s help, has succeeded in boosting the number of ancient trees recorded on Exmoor to over 1,700.

“Trees such as the 900 year old yew at Elworthy and the Timberscombe Oak with a girth of 7.4 metres (more than 24 feet), play an important role in the culture of local communities” says Graeme McVittie, woodlands officer at Exmoor National Park Authority.

In the past decade ancient trees have been recorded in woodlands, parklands and churchyards on Exmoor where traditional management favoured longevity. Ancient trees now feature on the National Park Authority’s Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) in recognition of the outstanding ancient tree heritage on Exmoor. Landowners are eligible for grants to manage and conserve ancient trees through Defra’s Environmental Stewardship schemes and Exmoor National Park Authority’s various conservation grant schemes.

2006 has seen an expansion of the search to encompass trees which may be situated in fields, hedgerows, village greens or gardens. Jeremy Sabel, conservation assistant with Exmoor National Park Authority, is coordinating the Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt and is encouraging the public to contribute to this process.

Posters in each of the 50 parishes on Exmoor and an article in Exmoor Park Life, the National Park Authority’s newspaper, have encouraged the public and landowners to report their favourite trees. For a tree to be included in the Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt it must have a girth of at least 3.8 metres (12 feet). Location, height and ecological notes are recorded in order to provide a better picture of the quality and distribution of ancient trees.

“Ancient trees are home to many rare species ranging from fungi and lichens to creepy crawlies and bats” explained Jeremy.

Members of the Exmoor Conservation Volunteers Partnership were trained by Jeremy earlier in the year and now he has a small team of willing volunteers to help him record the reports received from the public.This information will be shared with the Ancient Tree Forum as part of their nationwide search for ancient trees.

The public can learn more about the Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt by visiting the National Park Authority’s website including an interactive map showing where ancient trees are located.

For more information on the Exmoor Ancient Tree Hunt contact Jeremy Sabel at Exmoor National Park Authority on telephone: 01398 322296. For more information on the Exmoor Conservation Volunteer Partnership contact Sally Parish at Exmoor National Park Authority on telephone: 01398 322293.